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Welcome back to False Flag! Laura Loomer’s lawsuit against HBO host and comedian Bill Maher over Maher’s joke that Loomer was sleeping with Donald Trump is not faring well. How can we tell? Loomer’s lawyer Larry Klayman posted a blurry YouTube video earlier this month begging Donald Trump to intervene and get the case settled. In the video, which has just over 400 views as of this writing, Klayman proposed that Trump use Maher’s visit to the White House earlier this year as leverage.
“Play a role here if you could, Mr. President,” Klayman said. “Get ahold of Bill Maher, and say, ‘Look, settle this thing with HBO. Laura Loomer’s a good person who’s been hurt.’”
He goes on to portray Loomer as an utterly devoted supporter. But not like that! “I know that she loves you—not in a sexual sense, of course,” Klayman said. “And I do, too!”
Why the desperation? Perhaps it’s because on November 6, the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling suspending Klayman’s license in the state. Klayman now has thirty days to wrap up his representation on active cases, including Loomer’s.
Speaking of legal trouble, potential Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback—a trash-talking new right-media star—is facing a lot of it. But that’s not what’s driving Trump world crazy. It’s that Fishback may be trying to take down one of their own. Read on for more! We’re keeping this one paywall-free, because this story is too crazy not to share as widely as possible. But you can help support The Bulwark by joining our member’s program, Bulwark+, to ensure that I can keep reporting on all these great characters.
–Will
Meet the Ambitious, Duplicitous, Semi-Fictitious MAGA Upstart Driving Trump World Nuts
Plus: Tim Pool becomes persona non grata at TPUSA party.
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REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-Fla.) should be cruising into the Florida governor’s mansion, primarily because he possesses the most important currency in GOP politics: Donald Trump’s endorsement. But despite that leg up, Donalds has not been able to clear the primary field.
Thirty-year-old DOGE advocate James Fishback is reportedly on the verge of announcing a gubernatorial bid, telling me in an email that he’ll make an announcement “imminently.” And though he possesses a pipsqueak-ish energy, he also has racked up a little credibility in MAGA circles.
Fishback has invented his own anti-woke version of high school debate. Elon Musk praised his idea for a “DOGE dividend” that would give Americans checks for money saved through DOGE cuts. Podcaster Benny Johnson suggested that Fishback, a critic of Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell, might be appointed to the Fed board. In August, Fishback earned online right cred when he was kicked out of an economic conference for confronting Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve board member who has been a target of Trump’s ire.
Fishback, who now runs his own investment firm called Azoria Capital, has described himself as the son of a bus driver and as a college dropout who left Georgetown University to enter finance. He does not appear to have run for office before.
Despite that rags-to-riches backstory, not everyone in GOP circles is a fan. In fact, bigwigs inside the White House and the inner Trump orbit appear to have been driven a bit insane by Fishback’s bid.
Last week, Politico reported that Trump allies like White House deputy chief of staff James Blair and adviser Alex Bruesewitz had urged Fishback not to run. After that article appeared, both men criticized Fishback for the possibility that he’ll launch a scorched-earth primary bid against Donalds, whom Fishback has dubbed “DEI Donalds” and “H1-Byron.” In an email to me, Fishback said Donalds is a “slave to his donors.” (Donalds is black).
Bruesewitz posted a photo illustration of Fishback’s head in a goldfish bowl, apparently a play on his last name. Blair called the idea that he was concerned about Fishback’s bid “a lie.”
Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican who fashions himself a Trump ally but is mainly a House GOP oddball, dubbed Fishback a “groyper.”
“He’s a total wierdo [sic],” Fine, an ardent supporter of Israel, declared on X.
Ultimately, Fishback’s electoral chances are slim. Donalds, despite being dogged on the campaign trail with questions about when he’ll debate Fishback and why young voters should trust him more, is the favorite. Though current Gov. Ron DeSantis is not a fan, his efforts to find a more respectable challenger have, so far,